The Laxiwa Dam is an arch dam

Arch dam

An arch dam is a type of dam that is curved and commonly built with concrete. The arch dam is a structure that is designed to curve upstream so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, compressing and strengthening the structure as it pushes...

 on the Yellow River

Yellow River

The Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...

 in Qinghai

Qinghai

Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...

 Province, northwest China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

. It is 32 km (19.9 mi) downstream of the Longyangxia Dam

Longyangxia Dam

The Longyangxia Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam at the entrance of the Longyangxia canyon on the Yellow River in Gonghe County, Qinghai Province, China. The dam is tall and was built for the purposes of hydroelectric power generation, irrigation, ice control and flood control...

 and 73 km (45.4 mi) upstream from the Lijiaxia Dam

Lijiaxia Dam

The Lijiaxia Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Yellow River in Jainca County, Qinghai Province, China. The dam houses a hydroelectric power station with 5 x 400 MW generators for a total installed capacity of 2,000 MW. Construction began in April 1988 and the reservoir began to fill on...

. The main purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation and it supports the largest station in the Yellow River basin. The facility generates power by utilizing six turbines, each with a generating capacity of , totaling to a capacity of .

Construction

By the beginning of 2004, the Yellow River was diverted and in September of that year, excavation on the dam's abutment began. In April 2006, the first concrete was cast and on May 18, 2009, the power plant's first two generators were commissioned. A total of 79571000 cubic metres (2,810,023,305.2 cu ft) of earth and rock were excavated from the dam site.